The names Camel and Dromedary signify not two different
species, but only two distinct races of the camel, which have
subsisted [118] long previous to the records of history. The
chief, and perhaps the only sensible character by which these two
races are distinguished, is, that the camel has two bunches on the
back, and the dromedary but one. The latter is also somewhat smaller
and weaker than the camel. But both [119] of them intermix
and produce; and the individuals which proceed from this crossing of
the races, are the most vigorous, and preferred to all others.* These
mongrels form a secondary race, which multiply among themselves, and
likewise mix with the primary races. Hence, in this species, as well
as in those of other domestic animals, there are many varieties, the
most general of which proceed from the influence of [120]
different climates. Aristotle* has marked the
two principal races with much propriety; the first, or the one with
two bunches, under the name of the Bactrian camel,+
and the second under that of the Arabian camel. The first are
called Turkish camels,ý and
the other Arabian camels. This distinction still subsists; but, as
many parts of Africa and Asia are now disco- [121] vered,
which were unknown to the antients, it appears, that the dromedary is
incomparably more numerous, and more generally diffused, than the
camel. The latter is found only in Turkestan,*
and some other places of the Levant.+
But, in Arabia, the dromedary is more common than any other beast of
burden. It is likewise very numerous in all the northern parts of
Africa,ý from the
Mediterranean sea to the river Niger.||
It is also found in [122] Egypt,* in
Persia, in South Tartary,+ and in the
northern parts of India. Thus the dromedary occupies immense
territories, and the camel is confined within narrow limits. The
first inhabits dry and hot regions, the second, countries which are
less dry and more temperate; and the whole species, including both
varieties, seems to be limited to a zone of three or four hundred
leagues in breadth, extending from Mauritania to China; for, on
either side of this zone, it has no existence. This animal, though a
native of warm climates, dreads those which are excessively hot. The
species terminates where that of the elephant commences; and it can
neither subsist under the burning heat of the Torrid Zone, nor under
the mild air of the Temperate. It seems to be an
original native of Arabia;ý
[123] for this is not only the country where they are most
numerous, but where they thrive best. Arabia is the driest country in
the world, and where water is most rare. The camel is the most sober
all animals, and can pass several days without drink.*
The soil is almost every where dry and sandy. The feet of the camel
are adapted for walking on sands, and the animal cannot support
itself on moist and slippery ground.+
[124] This soil produces no pasture; the ox is also wanting;
and the camel supplies his place.

When we consider the nature and structure of these animals, we cannot
be deceived with regard to their native country, which must be
conformed to their frame and temperament, especially when these are
not modified by the influence of other climates. In vain have
attempts been made to multiply them in
Spain;* in vain have they been transported to America. They have
neither succeeded in the one country nor in the other; and, in the
East Indies, they are not found beyond Surat and Ormus. We mean not
to say absolutely, that they cannot subsist and produce in India,
Spain, and America, and even in colder countries, as those of France,
Germany, &c.+ By keeping them,
during the winter, in warm stables; by feeding them well, and
treating them with care; by not employing them in labour, and not
allowed them to go out for [125] exercise,
but in fine weather, their lives might be preserved, and we might
even hope to seem them produce. But such productions are rare and
feeble; and the parents themselves are weak and languid. In these
climates, therefore, they lose all their value, and instead of being
useful, they cost their owners much expence in the rearing. But, in
their native country, they constitute the sole riches of their
masters.* The Arabians regard the camel as a
present from heaven, a sacred animal,+
without whose assistance they could neither subsist, carry on trade,
nor travel. Camels milk is their common food. They also eat its
flesh, that of the young camel being reckoned highly savoury. Of the
hair of those animals, which is fine and soft, and which is
completely renewed every year,ý
the Arabians [126] make stuffs for clothes, and other
furniture. With their camels, they not only want nothing, but have
nothing to fear.+In one day, they
can perform a journey of fifty leagues into the desert, which cuts
off every approach from their enemies. All the armies of the world
would perish in pursuit of a troop of Arabs. Hence they never submit,
unless from choice, to any power. Figure to yourselves a country
without verdure, and without water, a burning sun, an air always
parched, sandy plains, mountains still more adust, which the eye runs
over without perceiving a single animated being; a dead earth,
perpetually tossed with the winds, and presenting nothing but bones,
scattered flints, rocks perpendicular or overturned; a desert totally
void, where the traveller never breathes under a shade, where nothing
accompanies him, nothing recalls the idea of animated Nature;
absolute solitude, [127] more dreadful than that of the
deepest forests; for to man, trees are, at least, visible objects;
more solitary and naked, more lost in an unlimited void, he every
where beholds space surrounding him as a tomb: The light of the day,
more dismal than he darkness of night, serves only to give him a
clearer view of his own wretchedness and impotence, and to conceal
from his view the barriers of the void, by extending around him that
immense abyss which separates him from the habitable parts of the
earth; an abyss, which, in vain, he would attempt to traverse; for
hunger, thirst, and scorching heat, haunt every moment that remains
to him between despair and death.

The Arab, however, by the assistance of his camel, has learned to
surmount, and even to appropriate, these frightful intervals of
Nature. They serve him for an asylum, the secure his repose, and
maintain his independence. But man never uses any thing without
abuse? This same free, independent, tranquil, and even rich Arab,
instead of regarding his deserts as the ramparts of his liberty,
pollutes them with his crimes. He traverses them to carry off slaves
and gold from the adjacent nations. He employs them for perpetrating
his robberies, which unluckily he enjoys more than his liberty; for
his enterprises are almost always successful. notwithstanding the
vigilance of his neighbours, and the superiority of their strength,
he escapes their pur- [128] suit, and carries off, with
impunity, all that he ravages from them. An Arab, who gives himself
up to this kind of terrestrial piracy, is early accustomed to the
fatigues of travelling, to want of sleep, and to endure hunger,
thirst, and heat. With the same view, he instructs, rears, and
exercises his camels. A few days after their birth,*
he folds their limbs under their belly, forces them to remain on the
ground, and, in this situation, loads them with a pretty heavy
weight, which is never removed but for the purpose of replacing a
greater. Instead of allowing them to feed at pleasure, and to drink
when they are dry, he begins with regulating their meals, and makes
them gradually travel long journeys, diminishing, at the same time,
the quantity of their aliment. When they acquire some strength, they
are trained to the course. He excites their emulation by the example
of horses, and, in time, he renders them equally swift, and more
robust.+[129]
In fine, after he is certain of the strength, fleetness, and sobriety
of his camels, he loads them both with his own and their food, sets
off with them, arrives unperceived at the confines of the desert,
robs the first passengers he meets, pillages he solitary houses,
loads his camels with the booty, and, if pursued, he is obliged to
accelerate his retreat. It is on these occasions that he unfolds his
own talents and those of the camels. He mounts one of the
fleetest,* conducts the troop, and makes them travel night and
day, without, almost, either stopping, eating, or drinking; and, in
this manner, he easily performs a journey of three hundred leagues in
eight days.+ [130] During
this period of motion and fatigue, his camels are perpetually loaded,
and he allows them, each day, one hour only of repose, and a ball of
paste. They often run in this manner nine or ten days, without
finding water;* and when, by chance, there is a pool at some
distance, they scent the water half a league off.+ Thirst makes them
double their pace, and they drink as much at once as serves them for
the time that is past, and as much to come; for their journeys often
last several weeks, and their abstinence continues an equal time.
[131]

In Turkey, Persia, Arabia, Egypt, Barbary, &c.
all the articles of merchandize are carried by camels.*
Of all carriages, it is the cheapest and most expeditious. The
merchants and other passengers unite in a caravan, to prevent the
insults and robberies of the Arabs. These caravans are often very
numerous, and are always composed of more camels than men. Each camel
is loaded in proportion to his strength; and, when over-loaded,+
he refuses to march, and continues lying till his burden is
lightened. The large camels generally carry a thousand, or
[132] even twelve hundred* pounds
weight, and the smallest from six to seven hundred.+ In these commercial travels, their march is not hastened: As
the route is often seven or eight hundred leagues, their motions and
journeys are regulated. They walk only, and perform about from ten to
twelve leagues each day. Every night they are unloaded, and allowed
to pasture at freedom. When in a rich country, or fertile meadow,
they eat, in less than an hour,ýas much as serves them to ruminate the whole night, and to
nourish them during twenty-four hours. But they seldom meet with
[133] such pastures; neither is this delicate food necessary
for them. They even seem to prefer wormwood, thistles,*
nettles, broom, cassia,+ and other prickly
vegetables, to the softest herbage. As long as they find plants to
brouse, they easily dispense with drink.ý

Besides, this facility of abstaining long from drink proceeds not
from habit alone, but is rather an effect of their structure.
Independent of the four stomachs, which are common to ruminating
animals, the camels have a fifth bag, which serves them as a
reservoir for water. This fifth stomach is peculiar to the camel. It
is so large as to contain a vast quantity of water, where it remains
without corrupting, or missing with the other aliments. When the
animal is pressed with thirst, and has occasion for water to macerate
his dry food in ruminating, he makes part of this water mount into
his [134] paunch, or even as high as the oesophagus, by a
simple contraction of certain muscles. It is by this singular
construction that the camel is enabled to pass several days without
drinking, and to take at a time a prodigious quantity of water, which
remains in the reservoir pure and limpid, because neither the liquors
of the body, nor the juices of digestion, can mix with it.

If we reflect on the dissimilarities in this animal from other
quadrupeds, we cannot doubt that his nature has been considerably
changed by constraint, slavery, and perpetual labour. Of all animals,
the camel is the most antient, the completest, and the most laborious
slave. He is the most antient slave, because he inhabits those
climates where men were first polished. He is the most complete
slave, because, in the other species of domestic animals, as the
horse, the dog, the ox, the sheep, the hog, &c. we still find
individuals in a state of nature, and which have never submitted to
men. But the whole species of the camel is enslaved; for none of them
exist in their primitive state of liberty and independence. Lastly,
he is the most laborious slave; because he has never been nourished
for pomp, like most horses, nor for amusement, like most dogs, nor
for the use of the table, like the ox, the hog, and the sheep;
because he has always been made a beast of burden, whom men have
never taken the trouble of yoking in machines but have regarded the
body of the animal as a [135] living carriage, which they may
load, or overload, even during sleep; for, when pressed, the load is
sometimes not taken off, but he lies down to sleep under it, with his
legs folded,* and his body resting on his
stomach. Hence they perpetually bear the marks of servitude and pain.
Upon the under part of the breast, there is a large callosity as hard
as horn, and similar one on the joints of the limbs. Though these
callosities are found on all camels, they exhibit a proof that they
are not natural, but produced by excessive constraint and painful
labour; for they are often filled with pus.+
The breast and legs, therefore, are deformed by callosities; the back
is still more disfigured by one or two bunches. The callosities, as
well as the bunches, are perpetuated by generation. As it is obvious,
that the first deformity proceeds from the constant practice of
forcing these animals, from their earliest age,ýto lie on their stomach, with their limbs [136] folded
under the body, and, in this situation, to bear both the weight of
their own bodies, and that of the loads laid on their backs, we ought
to presume that the bunch or bunches have also originated from the
unequal pressure of heavy burdens, which would naturally make the
flesh, fat, and skin swell; for these bunches are not osseous, but
composed of a fleshy substance similar to that of a cows
udder.* Hence the callosities and bunches should be equally regarded
as deformities produced by continual labour and bodily constraint;
and, though at first accidental and individual, they are now become
permanent and common to the whole species. We may likewise presume,
that the gab which contains the water, and is only an appendix to the
paunch, has been produced by an unnatural extension of this viscous.
The animal, after suffering thirst for a long time, by taking at once
as much, and perhaps more water than the stomach could easily
contain, this membrane would be gradually extended and dilated; in
the same manner as we have seen the stomach of a sheep extend in
proportion to the quantity of its aliment. In sheep fed with grain,
the stomach is very small; [137] but becomes very large in
those fed with herbage alone.

These conjectures would be either fully confirmed or
destroyed, if we had wild camels to compare with the domestic. But
these animals no where exist in a natural state, or, if they do, no
man has observed or described them. We ought to suppose, therefore,
that every thing good and beautiful belongs to Nature, and that
whatever is defective and deformed in these animals proceeds from the
labours and slavery imposed on them by the empire of man. These
inoffensive creatures must suffer much; for they utter the most
lamentable cries, especially when overloaded. But, though perpetually
oppressed, their fortitude is equal to their docility. At the first
signal,* they bend their knees and lie down
to be loaded,+ which saves their
conductor the [138] trouble of raising the goods to a great
height. As soon as they are loaded, they rise spontaneously, and
without assistance. One of them is mounted by the conductor, who goes
before, and regulates the march of all the followers. they require
neither whip nor spur. But, when they begin to be tired, their
courage is supported, or rather their fatigue is charmed, by singing,
or by the sound of some instrument.* Their
conductors relieve each other in singing; and, when they want to
prolong the journey,+ they give
[139] the animals but one hours rest; after which,
resuming their song, they proceed on their march for several hours
more, an the singing is continued till they arrive at another resting
lace, when the camels again lie down; and their loads, by unloosing
the ropes, are allowed to glide off on each side of the animals. They
they sleep on their bellies in the middle of their baggage, which,
next morning, is fixed on their backs with equal quickness and
facility as it had been detached the evening before.

The callosities and tumours on the breast and legs, the contusions
and wounds of the skin, the complete falling off of the hair, hunger,
thirst, and meagerness, are not the only inconveniences to which
these animals are subjected: To all these evils they are prepared by
castration, which is a misfortune greater than any they are obliged
to suffer. One male is only left for eight or ten females;*
and the labouring camels are, generally geldings. They are
unquestionably weaker than unmutilated males; but they are more
tractable, and at all seasons ready for service. While the former are
not only unmanageable, but almost furious,+
during the rut- [140] ting season, which lasts forty
days,* and returns annually in the spring.+
It is then said, that they foam continually, and that one or two red
vesicles, as large as dogs bladder, issue from
their
mouths.ý In this season, they eat little,
attack and bite animals, and even their own ma- [141] sters,
to whom, at all other times, they are very submissive. Their mode of
copulating differs from that of all other quadrupeds; for the female,
instead of standing, lies down on her knees and receives the male in
the same position that she reposes, or is loaded.* This posture, to
which the animals are early accustomed, becomes natural, since they
assume it spontaneously in coition. The time of gestation is near
twelve months,+ and, like all large quadrupeds, the females bring
forth only one at a birth. Her milk is copious and thick; and, when
mixed with a large quantity of water, affords an excellent
nourishment to men. The females are not obliged to labour, but are
allowed to pasture and [142] produce at full liberty.*
The advantage derived from their produce and their milk,+
is perhaps superior to what could be drawn from their working. In
some places, however, most of the females are castrated,ý in
order to fit them for labour; and it is alledged, that this
operation, instead of diminishing, augments their strength, vigour,
and plumpness. In general, the fatter camels are, they are the more
capable of enduring great fatigue. Their bunches seem to proceed from
a redundance of nourishment; for, during long journeys, in which
their conductor is obliged to husband their food, and where they
often suffer much hunger and thirst, these bunches gradually
diminish, and become so flat, that the place where they were is only
perceptible by the length of the hair, which is always longer on
these parts than on the rest of the back. The meagerness of the body
augments in proportion as the bunches decrease. The Moors, who
transport all articles of merchandise from Barbary and Numidia, as
far as Æthiopia, set out with their camels well laden, which
are very fat and vigo- [143] rous; *
and bring back the same animals so meagre, that they commonly sell at
a low price to the Arabs of the Desert, to be again fattened.

We are told by the antients, that camels are in a condition for
propagating at the age of three years.+
This assertion is suspicious; for, in three years, they have not
acquired one half of their growth.ý
The penis of the male, like that of the bull, is very long, and very
slender.|| During
erection, it stretches forward, like that of all other quadrupeds;
but, in its ordinary state, the sheath is drawn backward, and the
urine is discharged from between the hind
legs;º so [144] that both males and females
urine in the same manner. The young camel suckels his mother twelve
months,* but, when meant to be trained, in
order to render him strong and robust in the chace, he is allowed to
suck and pasture at freedom during the first years, and is not
loaded, or made to perform any labour, till he is four years
old.+ He generally lives forty and sometimes fifty
years,ý which duration of
life is proportioned to the time of his growth. There is no
foundation for what has been advanced by some authors, that he lives
one hundred years.

By considering, under one point of view, all the
qualities of this animal, and all the advantages derived from him, it
must be acknowledged that he is the most useful creature subjected to
the service of man. gold and silk constitute not the true riches of
the East. The camel is the genuine treasure of Asia. He is more
valuable than the elephant; for he may be said to perform an equal
quantity of labour at a twentieth [145] part of the expense.
Besides, the whole species are under subjection to man, who
propagates and multiplies them at pleasure. But he has no such
dominion over the elephants, whom he cannot multiply, and the
individuals of whom he conquers with great labour and difficulty. The
camel is not only more valuable than the elephant, but is perhaps
equal in the utility to horse, the ass, and the ox, when their powers
are united. He carries as much as two mules; though he eats as
little, and feeds upon herbs equally coarse, as the ass. The female
furnishes milk longer than the cow.* The
flesh of a young camel is as good and wholesome+
as veal. Their hair is finerý
and more in request than the best wool. Even their excrements are
useful; for sal ammoniac is made of their urine, and their dung
[146] serves for litter* to
themselves, as well as to horses, with which people frequently
travel+in countries
where no hay or straw can be had. In fine, their dung makes excellent
fewel [sic], which burns freelyý,
and gives as clear and nearly as hot a flame as dry wood, which is of
great use in the deserts, where not a tree is to be found, and where,
for want of combustible materials, fire is as scarce as water.º

SUPPLEMENT.

Having little to add to what has been said with regard to the camel
and dromedary, we [147] shall content ourselves with quoting
a passage from M. Niebuhrs description of Arabia, p.
144.

In the county of Iman, most of the camels are of a middle
stature, and of a bright brown colour; some of them, however, are
large, heavy, and of a deep brown colour. When about to copulate, the
female lies down on her legs; and the people tie her fore legs to
prevent her from rising. The male sits on his posteriors like dog,
which his two fore feet resting on the ground. He seems to be colder
and more indifferent than any other animal; for he often requires to
be teazed a long time before the ardour of love is excited. When the
operation is finished, the female is suddenly raised, and forced to
walk. The same thing, it is said, takes place in Mesopotamia,
Natolia, and probably every where else.

I remarked, that camels had been transported to the Canaries,
Antilles, and Peru; but that they had not succeeded in any part of
the New World. Dr Brown, in his history of Jamaica, affirms, that he
saw dromedaries there, which the English, in former times, had
transportd thither in great numbers, and that, though they still
subsist, they are of little use; because the inhabitants are ignorant
of the proper manner of feeding and treating these animals. They,
however, multiply in all these climates, and I doubt not but they
might produce even in France. We see from the Gazette of June 9 1775,
that M. Brin- [148] kenof having made a male and female camel
copulate in his territories near Berlin, obtained on the 24th day of
March 1775, after a period of twelve months, a young camel, which was
healthy and vigorous This fact confirms what I said concerning the
production of dromedaries and camels at Dresden; and I am persuaded,
that, if we had Arabian servants, who know how to manage these
animals, we might soon render this species domestic, which I consider
as the most useful of all quadrupeds.

Notes

*There are two species of the camel, the Bactrian camel, and the
Arabian camel or Dromedary. They have no
cutting teeth in the upper jaw. The upper lip is divided, like that
of the hare; and they have six cutting teeth in the lower jaw. -- The
Bactrian camel has two bunches on the back, a small head, short ears,
and a long, slender, bending neck. The height, to the top of the
bunches, is six feet six inches. The hair is soft, longest about the
neck, under the throat, and about the bunches. The colour of the hair
on the protuberances is dusky, on the other parts it is a reddish
ash-colour. The tail is long, the hair on the middle is soft, and
coarse, black, and long on the sides. The hoofs are small; the feet
flat, divided above, but not through. The bottom of the feet is
excessively tough, yet pliant. there rae six callosities on the legs,
one on each knee; one of the inside of each fore-leg, on the upper
joint; one on the inside of the hind leg, at the bottom of the thigh;
another on the lower part of the breast, the places that the animals
rests on when it lies down; Pennants Synops of Quad. p.
60.

In Greek, [a greek word I cant transcribe yet]; in
Latin, Camelus; in Italian, Camelo; in Spanish
Camelo; in German, Koemel, in Hebrew, Gamal; in
Chaldean, Gamala, in antient Arabic, Gemal; in modern
Arabic, Gimel; in French, Chameau. From these
denominations, it appears, that the name of this animal has been
adopted into modern languages, with little variation from the antient
Hebrew, Chaldean, and Arabic.

**The Arabian camel, or dromedary, has but one bunch on the back. In
all other respects it is like the preceeding, and is equally adapted
for riding or carrying loads; Pennants Synops. of Quad.
p. 62.

In Greek [a word I cant transcribe], or rather
Camelus Dromas; for dromas is only an adjective derived from
dromos, which signifies swiftness, and camelus
dromas is equivalent to the swift running camel. In modern
Latin, Dromedarius, in the Levant, Maibary, according
to Doctor Shaw.

*The Persians have several kinds of camels.
Those with two bunches they call bughur, and those with one,
schuttur. Of these last there are four kinds. Those called,
from their excellence, Ner, that is male, which proceed from a
mixture of a dromedary, or a camel with two bunches, and a female
with one bunch, which is called Maje, are never allowed to be
covered by others, and are so highly esteemed, that some of them sell
for a hundred crowns. They carry loads of nine or ten hundred pounds,
and are most indefatigable. When in season, they eat little, foam at
the moth, grow enraged, and bite. To prevent them from hurting their
keepers, the Persians put muzzles o their mouths, which are called
agrah. The camels which proceed from this kind degenerate
much, and become weak and indolent. It is for this reason tat they
are called JurdaKaidem by the Turks, and see at thirty
or forty crowns only.

The third kind, called Lohk, are not so good as the
Bugur. When in season, they form not, but push out from under
their throat a red bladder, which they again retract with their
breath, raise their heads, and ofen swell. The sell at sixty crowns,
and are by no means so strong as the other kinds. Hence the Persians,
when they speak of a valiant man, say that he is a Ner, and a
poltroon is called Lohk. A fourth kind is acllaed by the
Persians Schuturi Baad, and by the Turks Jeldovesi,
that is, Wind camels. They are smaller, but more sprightly
than the other kinds; for instaed of walking, like ordinary camels,
they trot and gallop as well as horses; Voyage dOlearius,
tom. 1. p. 550 [back to page
120].

*Camelus proprium inter caeteros quadrupedes habet in dorso, quod
tuber appellant, sed ita ut Bactrianae ab Arabiis differant; alteris
enim bina, alteris singula tubera habentur; Arist. hist. anim.
lib. 2. cap 1. -- Theodore Gaza, whose translation I have
uniformly followed when I quote from Aristotle, appears to have
rendered this passage in an ambiguous anner: Alteris enim bina,
alteris singula tubera habentur, signifies only that some have
two, and others but one bunch; while the Greek txt mentions
expressly, that the Arabian camels have but one, and the Bactrian
camels two bunches. Pliny likewise, who in this article, as well as
in many others, copies Aristotle, has translated this passage much
better than Gaza; Cameli Bactriani et Arabici differant, quod illi
bini habent tubera in dorso, hi singula; Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. 8.
cap. 18 [back to page 121]
+ Batriana is a province of Asia, which now includes Turkestan, the
country of the Usbecks, &c [back to page
121].

ý We went to Mount Sinai upon camels, because there
is no water on this road, and other animals cannot travel without
drinking... But the Arabian camels, which are small, and different
from those of Cairo, who come from Sour, and other places, can travel
three or four days without drink... They travel from Cairo to
Jerusalem, not only upon these small Arabian camels, but upon a
larger kind, which are called Turkish camels; Voyage de
Pietro della Valle, tom. 1. p. 360, et 408. -- In Barbary,
the dromedary is called Maihari; and is not so common in
Barbary as in the Levant....This species differs from the ordinary
camel, by having a rounder and handsomer body, and oly one small
bunch on the back; Shaws travels [back
to page 121].

*The Academy having ordered the missioners sent to China, in quality
of Kings mathematicians, to obtain information concerning some
particulars in the history of the camel, the Persian ambassador gave
the following answers to the queries put to him by M. Constance: 1.
That, in Persia, there were no camels with two bunches on the back;
but that they came originaly from Turkestan, and belong to the rce of
those which the King of the Moors had brought from that country, the
only known part of Asia where this kind exists; and that those camels
were highly estemmed in Persia, because their two bunches render them
more proper for carriges. 2. Thta these bunches are not formed by a
curvature of the back-bone, which is here as low as in any other
part, but are only excrescences of a glandular substance, similar to
that which composes the udders of other animals; and that the
anterior bunch is about six inches high, and the posterior an inch
lower; Mem. pour servir a lhist des. animaus,
part. I. p. 80 [back to page
122].

+The camels of the Calmuch Tartars
are pretty large and strong; but they all have two bunches;
Relation de la Grande Tartarie, p. 267 [back
to page 122].

*Without the assistance of camels, it would be extremely difficult to
traverse the vast deserts of Solyma, where neither bird, wild beast,
herbage, nor even a mushroom can be found, and where nothing is to be
seen but mountains of sand, quarries, and camels bones. These
animals sometimes pass six or seven days without drinking, which I
should never have believed, if I had not seen the fact verified;
Relation du Voyage de Ponet en Ethiopie; Lettres Edisantes,
recueil 4. p. 259 -- In going from Aleppo to Ispahan, by
the great desert, we travelled near six days without finding water,
which, added to the three preceeding, make the nine days I formerly
mentioned during which our camels had no drink; Voyage de
Tavernier, tom I. p. 202.
+Camels cannot walk uon fat or slipperty fround. They are only
fit fo sandy places; Voyage de Jean Ovington, tom. I. p. 222. --
There are chiefly two kinds of camels, the one proper for warm
countries, the other for cold. The camels of very warm countries, as
those which come from Ormus, and as fas as Ispahan, cannot walk when
the ground is moist and slippery; for, by the spreading of their hind
legs, they are in danger of tearing open their bellies: They ar
small, and carry loads of only six or seven hundred pounds.....The
camels of colder countries, as those from Tauris to Constantinople,
are large, and commonly carry burdens of one thousand pounds. They
draw themselves out of miry groun; but, when the earth is fat and
slippery, they are obiged to go, sometimes to the number of a
hundred, at each others sides, in order to pass over it;
Voyage de Tavernier, tom. I. p. 161
[back to p. 124].

*Camels are frequently seen in Spain. They are
sent, by the governours of places, from the frontiers of Africa. But
they never live long there; because the country is too cold for them;
LAfrique de Marmol, tom. 1. p. 50
[back to page 125].

+M. le Marquis de Montmirail informs me, that he was
assured that the King of Poland had, in the neighbourhood of Dresden,
camels and dromedaries which multiplied [back to page
125].

ýIn spring, the hair of the camel falls off so
ntirely, that he resembles a scalded hog. He is then smeared all over
with pitch, to defend him from the flies. The hair of the camel is a
fleece superior to that of any other domestic animal. In these
countries, it is made into very fine stuffs, and, in Europe, hats are
made of it, by mixing it with beavers hair; Voyage de
Chardin, tom. 2. p. 28.-- In the spring, the whole hair
falls from the camel is less than three days. The skin is completely
naked, and then the flies become extremely troublesom, against which
there is no other remedy but besmearing the whole body with pitch;
Voyage de Tavernier, tom I. p. 162. -- Praeter alia
emolumenta quae ex camelis capiunt, veltes quoque et tentoria ex iis
habent; ex eorum enim pilis multa siunt, maxime vero pannus, quo et
principes oblectantur; Prosp. Alpin. hist. Ægypt. pars
I. p. 226 [back to page 126].

*The yong camels, from after birth, are obliged to lie on the ground,
with their four legs folded under their belly, for fifteen or twenty
days, in order to enure them to this posture. They never lie in
another position. To learn them temperance and abstinence, they are
then allowed very little milk; and, by this practice, they are
trained to continue eight or ten days without drinking: And, as to
victuals, it is astonishing that so large an animal should live on so
small a quantity of food; Voyage de Chardin, tom 2.
p. 28 [back to page 129].+The dromedary is particularly remarkable for swiftness.
The Arabs say, that he can travel as far in one day as one of their
best horses can do in eight or ten. The Bekh, who conducted us
to mount Sinai, was mounted on one of these camels, and often amused
us with the great fleeness of the animal on which he rode. He quitted
our caravan to reconnoitre another, which was so distant that we
could hardly perceive it, and returned to us in less than a quarter
of an hour; Shaws travels. -- A kind of camels are reared in
Arabia for the purposes of the course. They trot so fleetly, that a
horse cannot keep up ith them, unless at a gallop; Voyage de
Chardin, tom. 2. p. 28 [back to
page 129].

*The dromedaries are so fleet that they march tirty five or forty
leagues a day, and continue at this rate for eight or ten days
through the desert, and eat extremely little. They are used by the
Arabs of Numidia and the Lybian Africans as post horses, when a long
journey is necessary; they likewise mount these animals in the time
of combat; LAfrique de Marmol. tom. I. p. 49. --
The true dromedary is much lighter and swifter than the other camels;
he can travel a hundred miles in a day, and continue at the same
rate, across the deserts, with little food, for seven or eight days;
LAfrique dOgilby, p. 12 [back
to page 130].

+The dromedaries are smaller, more slender, and fleeter
than the other camels, and are used only for carrying men. They have
a fine soft trot, and easily accomplish forth leagues a day. The
rider has only to keep a firm seat; and some people, for fear of
falling, are tied on; Relation de Thevenot, tom. I,
p. 312 [back to page 130].

*The camel can dispense with drinking during
four or five days. A small quantitity of beans and barley, or rather
some morsels of paste made of flour, are sufficient for his daily
nourishment. This fact I often experienced in my journey to mount
Sinai. Though each of our camels carried seven quintals, we travelled
ten, and sometimes fifteen hours a day, at the rate of two and a hlaf
miles every hour; Shaws travels. -- Aden sitim cameli
tolerant, ut potu absque incommodo diebus quindecim abstinere
possint. Nociturus alioquin si camelarius triduo absoluto aquam illis
porrigat, quod singulis quinis aut novenis diebus consueto more
potentur vel urgente necessitate quindenis; Leon. Afric. descript.
Africae. vol. 2. p. 749. -- The patience with which the
camels suffeer thirst is truly admirable. The last time I travelled
the deserts, which the caravan did not clear in less than sixty-five
days, our camels were once nine days without drink; because, during
all this time, we found no water; Voyage de Tavernier,
tom. I. p. 162 [back to page
131].

+We arrived at a hilly country: At the foot of the hills
were large pools. Our camels, which had passed nine days without
drink, smelled the water at the distance of half a league. They
instantly began their hard trot, which is their mode of running, and
entering the pools in troops, they first troubled the water, &c.
Tavernier, tom. I, p. 202 [back to
page 131].

*The camels are very commodious for carrying baggage and merchandize
at a small expence.-- Their steps, as well as their journey, are
regulated. -- Their food is cheap; for they live on thistles,
nettles, &c. -- They suffer drought two or three days; Voyage
dOlearius, tom. I. p. 552 [back
to page 132].

+When about to be loaded, at the cry of their conductor,
they instantly bend their knees. If any of them disobey, they are
instantly struck with a stick, or their necks are pulled down; and
then, as if constrained, and complaining in their own manner, they
bend their knees, put their bellies on the earth, and remain in this
posture till they are loaded and commanded to rise. This is the
origin of those large collosities on the parts of their bellies,
limbs, and knees, which rest on the ground. If over-burdened, they
give repeated blows with their heads to the person who oppresses
them, and set up lamentable cries. Their ordinary load is double that
which the strongest mule can carry; Voyage du P. Philippe,
p. 369 [back to page 132].

*Some camels can carry loads of fifteen hundred pounds. But they are
never burdened in this manner, unless when the merchants approach the
places where the imposts on goods are levied, which they mean partly
to evade, by laying as much on one camel as was carried before by
two. But, with this great load, they travel not above two or three
leagues a day; Voyage de Tavernier, tom. 2. p.
335 [back to page 133].+In the East, the camel is called a land ship, on
account of the great load he carries, which, for large camels is
generally twelve or thirteen hundred pounds; for there are two kinds,
the northern and the southern, as they are denominated
by the Persians. The latter, who travel only from the Persic Gulf to
Ispahan, are much smaller than the others, and carry only about seven
hundred pounds; but they bring as much, if not more profit to their
masters, because their food hardly costs any thing. They march loaded
in this manner, pasturing along the road, without bridle or halter;
Voyage de Chardin, tom. 2. p. 27.
ýVictum cameli parcissimum, exiguique sumptus serunt, et
magnis laboribus robustissime resistunt. -- Nullum animal illus et
molis citius comedit; Prosp. Alpin. Hist. Egypt. p. 225
[back to page 133].

*When the camels are unloaded, they are allowed to go in quest of
briars and brambles. -- Through the camel is a large animal, he eats
little, and is content with what he finds. He searches particularly
for thistles, of which he is very fond; Voyage de Tavernier,
tom. I. p. 162 [back to page
134].

*In the night, camels sleep on their knees,
and ruminate what they have eaten during the day; Voyage du P.
Philippe, p. 369 [back to page
136].

+Having opened the callosities on the legs to examine
their structure, which is a medium between fat and ligament, we
found, in a small camel, that some of them contained a collection of
thick pus. The callosity on the sternum was eight inches long, six
broad, and two thick. In it likewise we found a great deal of pus;
Mem. pour servir à lhist. des animaux, part. I,
p. 74 [back to page 136].

ýAs soon as a camel is brought forth, his four legs
are folded under his body. After which he is covered with a cloth,
which hangs down to the ground, and on the borders of which a uantity
of stones are laid, to prevent him from rising, and in this position
he remains fifteen or twenty days. He is served with milk, but very
sparingly, in order to accustom him to drink little; Voyage de
Tavernier, tom I. p. 161 [back to page
136].

*The flesh of the camel is insipid, especially that of the bunch, the
taste of which resembles that of a fat cows udder;
LAfrique de Marmol, tom. I. p. 50 [back
to page 137].

*The camels are so obedient to their master, that, when he wants to
load or unload them, by a single word or signal they instantly lie
down on their bellies. Their food is small and their labour great;
Cosmog. du Levant, par Thevet, p. 74. -- They are
accustomed to lie down to be loaded, by having their legs folded
under them when very young; and their obedience is so prompt as to
excite admiration. Whenever the caravan rrives at the place of
encampment, all the camels which belong to one master range
themselves spontaneously in a circular form, and lie down on their
four legs; so that, by loosing a cord which binds the bales, they
gently fall down on each side of the animal. When the time of loading
arrives, the same camel comes and lies down between the bales, and,
after they are fixed, rises softly with his load. This exercise he
performs in a short time, and without the smallest trouble or noise;
Voyage de Tavernier, tom. I. p. 160 [back
to page 138].

+The camels, when about to be
loaded, lie down on their four legs, and then rise with their burden;
Voyage de la Boulaie-le-Gouz, p. 255. -- The camels lie down
to be loaded or unloaded, and rise when desired; Relation de
Thevenot, tom I. p. 312 [back to page
138].

*The camels rejoice at the harmonious sound of the voice, or of some
instrument..... The Arabs use timbrels, because whipping does not ake
the animals advance. But music, and particularly that of the human
voice, animates and gives them courage; Voyage dOlearius,
tom. I. p. 552. -- When their conductor wants to mke his
camels perform extraordinary journeys, instead of chastising, he
encourages them with a song; and, though they had formerly stopt
[sic], and refused to proceed farther, they now go on
cheerfully, and quicker than a horse when pushed with the spur;
LAfrique de Marmol, tom. I. p. 47. -- The master
conducts his camels by singing, and, from time to time, blowing his
whistle. The more he sings, and the louder he blows, the animals
march the quicker; and, when he ceases to sing, they stop. Their
conductors relieve each other by singing alternately, &c.
Voyage de Tavernier, tom. I. p. 163
[back to page 139].+It is remarkable, that the camels learn
to march by a kind of singing; for they proceed quickly or slowly,
according to the sound of the voice. In the same manner, when their
masters want an extraordinary journey performed, they know the tunes
which the animals love best to hear; Voyage de Chardin, tom.
2. p. 28 [back to page 139].

*The Africans geld all their camels which are destined to carry
burdens, and only one entire male is left for ten females;
LAfrique de Marmot, tom. I. p. 48
[back to page 140].

+In the rutting season, the camels are extremely
troublesome. They fret and foam, and bite every person who approaches
them, and for that reason they are muzzled; Relations de
Thevenot, tom. 2. p. 222. -- When the camels are in
season, those who have the charge of them are obliged to muzzle them,
and to be much on their guard; for the animals are mischievous, and
even furious; Voyage de Jean Ovington, tom. I.
p. 222 [back to page 140].

*The camels, in the season of love, are dangerous. This season
continues forty days, and, when past, they resume their ordinary
mildness; LAfrique de Marmol, tom. I. p.
49 [back to page 141].+The male camels, which, in all other seasons, are
extremely gentle and tractable, become furious in the spring, which
is the time of the copulating. Like the cats, the camels generally
perform this operation during the night. the sheath of their penis
then lengthens, as happens to all animals which lie much on their
bellies. At all other times, it is more contracted and inclined
backward, that they may discharge their urine with more ease;
Shaws travels. -- In the month of February, the camels
come in season, and the males are so furious, that they foam
incessantly at the mouth; Voyage de la Boulaie le Gouz,
p. 256 [back to page 141].

ýWhen the camel is in season, he continues forty
days without eating or drinking; and he is then so furious, tht,
unless prevented, he bites every person who comes near him. Wherever
he bites, he carries off the piece; and from his moth there issues a
white foam, accompanied with two bladders, which are large and blown
up like the bladder of a hog; Voyage de Tavernier, tom.
I, p. 161. -- The camels, when in season, live forty two days
without food; Relat. de Thevenot, tom. 2, p.
222. -- Veneris furore diebus quadraginta permanent famis
patientes; Leon. Afric. vol. 2. p. 748. -- In the
rutting season, which lasts five or six weeks, the camel eats much
less than at any other time; Voyage de Chardin, tom. 2.
p. 28 [back to page 141].

*When the camels copulate, the female lies down in the same manner as
when she is about to be loaded. Some of them go thirteen months with
young; Relation de Threvenot, tom. 2. p. 223. --
The female receives the male lying on her belly; Voyage de Jean
Ovington, p. 223. -- It is remarkable, that, when these
animals copulate, the females lie on their bellies in the same manner
as when they are loading. The time of their gestation is from eleven
to twelve months; Voyage de Chardin, tom. 2. p.
28. -- It is true, that the females go with young twelve months: But
those who assert, that, during the time of coition, the male turns
his crupper to the female, are deceived. This error proceeds from the
circumstance of his discharging his urine backward by placing the
penis between the two hind legs. But, in copulating, the female lies
on her belly, and receives the make in that position; Voyage de
Olearius, tom. I. p. 553 [back
to page 142].

+The females go with oung near
twelve onths, or from one spring to the following; Shaws
travels [back to page 142].

ýThe males are castrated; and the females sometimes
undergo a similar operation, which renders them stronger and larger;
Wotton, p. 82 [back to page
144].

*When the camels begin their journey, it is necessary that they
should be fat; for, when this animals has travelled forty or fifty
days without having barley to eat, the fat of the bunches begins to
diminish, then that of the belly, and lastly, that of the limbs;
after which he is no longer able to carry his load.... The caravans
of Africa, which travel to Æthiopia, never think of bringing
back their camels; because they transport no heavy goods from that
country; and, when they arrive, they sell their meagre animals;
LAfrique de Marmol, tom. I. p. 49. -- Camelos
macilentos, dorsique vulneribus faucios, vili pretio Desertorum
incolis saginandos divendunt; Leon. Afric. descript. Africae,
vol. 2. p. 479 [back to page
144].

ýIn the year 1752, we saw a
female camel of three years of age... She had not acquired above one
half of her stature; Hist. Nat. des animaus, par Mess. Arnault de
Nobleville et Salerne, tom. 4. p. 126. et
130 [back to page 144].

||Though the camel is a large animal, his penis, which is
at least three feet long, is not thicker than the little finger of a
man; Voyage dOlearius, tom. I. p. 554
[back to page 144].

ýSocks are made of the
camels hair; and, in Persia, fine girdles are made of it, some
of which, especially when white, cost two tomans, because
camels of this colour are rare; Relation de Thevenot,
tom. 2. p. 223 [back to page
146].

*Their own dung serves them for litter. For this purpose it is
exposed to the sun during the day, and sun dries it so completely,
that it crumbles down into a kind of powder, which is carefully
spread for litter; Relation de Thevenot, p. 73
[back to page 147].

+The antients tell us, without any foundation, that the
camles have a great antipathy to horses. I could not learn, says
Olearius, why Pliny, after Xenophon, should advance, that camels have
an aversion to horses. When I mentioned it to the Persians, they
laughed at me.... There is hardly a caravan in which there are not
camels, horses, and asses, all lodged promiscuously together, without
discovered the smallest aversion or animosity against each other;
Voyage dOlearius. tom. I. p. 553
[back to page 147].

ýThe camels dung left by some caravans which had
gone before us, generally served us for fewel; for, after being
exposed a day or two to the sun, it is easily inflamed, and burns as
clear and with as strong a heat as dried wood or charcoal;
Shaws travels.